Henry Poole is Here tells the funny, poignant and uplifting story of a disillusioned man (Luke Wilson) who attempts to hide from life in a rundown suburban tract home only to discover he cannot escape the forces of hope.

Member Movie Reviews

WOW! I love this movie!! When I first read about it I thought it was going to be just a silly comedy but it's an amazing heartwarming tear jerker that deserves to be watched! Absolutely love it!! At the end if you already have faith it'll make it stronger or hopefully help you have faith :)

Movie Reviews

Touching & low-key

David Bonesteel | Fresno, CA United States | 10/08/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Henry Poole (Luke Wilson) returns to the neighborhood where he grew up, wishing only to be left alone. A mysterious stain on the wall of his house becomes the catalyst for several unexplainable events, among them Henry's reconnection to the world.

I really had no idea what this movie was about going in. It's a quiet, gentle film with appealing characters whose message of faith creeps in rather subtly. Being a nonbeliever, I might not have gone to this film if I had known about the Christian, specifically Catholic, subtext, but I'm glad I did. Director Mark Pellington and writer Albert Torres do not hit us over the head with a message, but rather present a story in which faith means different things to different characters, and we are not forced to accept one interpretation as correct. This is a very touching, low-key film."

Nothing wrong with sincerity

L. Stensland | California USA | 11/02/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This movie came out the same week or two as Tropic Thunder, a film that featured several other members of the Frat Pack to which Luke belongs. Once again we see a difference between Luke and the others. Luke is the anti-hipster, often preferring sincere works that don't debase people. I am an Atheist but found this film to be low-key and charming. It firmly depicts someone suffering from depression who slowly makes a turn for the better. Yes, people may argue over the religious undercurrent of the film, which insults the nihilistic tendencies of young filmgoers, but one can also interpret the film's central theme of as renewal (our ability to change who we are)."

A sincere film that looked great on BD

Steve Kuehl | Ben Lomond, CA | 01/17/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The director said it best in the BD docu, "...a hopeless man finds hope". I was surprised that this film received no advertising for being a Luke Wilson film (no poster placement, strange pricing structures, limited release, etc.).

I have been playing it in the store for a couple days now and it truly captivated the crowds. The film contains a nice mix of suburban visuals with an excellent soundtrack that repeatedly catches the attention of those that might only be listening. It has become one of those films that sells itself but in a good way.

The story revolves around a man that is obviously extremely depressed that wants to skip human interaction by buying an empty suburban house. Instead he encounters several neighbors that end up changing his life and in the end, helping those that helped him. Regardless of the large volumes of hate one can find about this film out there (and I do mean a lot) I did not categorize this as a religious film, or an agenda film, I just saw a good emotional film filled with believers and non believers, love and incredible events.

The BD quality is excellent, and was very appropriate for this film with the amount of landscapes and overhead shots. The music sounded wonderful in the TrueHD (lots of music) and special features were worth the time. The production docu is informative, as was the commentary. The selling point though is the deleted scenes. They removed over 30 minutes from the film. A great deal of the questions I have read about this film (and was asking myself while watching) were answered here. Even after listening as to why the director removed them, I strongly disagreed and felt they should have been in the movie (hence I rated it one star lower). The scenes would have made the film a great deal more believable and would not have been lagging with all of these questions about why this whole event was happening.

Some nice performances, a solid BD, and a worthwhile film make the BD price here on Amazon a steal."

For my taste, one of the best films of 2008!

Mike Sobocinski | Lansing, MI | 01/28/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ok, I will admit that my favorite genre of film is the character-based domestic drama, so take that into account when considering my recommendation. Of all the films I saw on cinema screens in 2008, I believe this one was the best. I found it to be artfully made, well-performed, thematically intriguing, and emotionally effective. All of that relies on a careful balancing act as the script unfolds, between the right pacing and character development and such.... all of which is difficult to evaluate objectively. But for me, it worked extremely well.

Given that the film includes religion-related themes, certain kinds of devout viewers may wish to note, however, that for some reason, the filmmakers decided to include more than one use of a two-word phrase that is often considered to be blasphemous. For those who aren't much concerned with that sort of thing, though, I would recommend watching this film if it looks at all interesting to you. I was pleasantly surprised to find it much more artful and convincing than I would have thought possible based upon what the previews had showed. Watching the previews, I merely thought "This has some potential. I guess I'll check it out if it actually gets released locally." After seeing it, my thought was "Darn! Another great film where I'm practically the only person in the audience and the cinema will replace it with a different film before I have a chance to come back and see it again." Fortunately, we have DVD now, to solve that problem! :-)"

Small film - better than most

Rex Quon Do | Farmington, MI | 11/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Briefly, Henry is presented with a series of unexplainable things (as he sees it) and has to decide what he truly believes.

I loved this film - but I like religious and philosphical films. I think they got this film just right and the performances are spot on. May be too slow and thoughtful for some - that is why Die Hard 4 is only a click away (which I also liked).

I am curious what others think of this film after watching it on DVD - presumably a larger audience than those that saw it at the theater (there was one person at the theater when I saw it - and that was me)."